The present invention relates to digital video and more particularly to improved video compression techniques.
Many digital image compression techniques have been developed for allowing efficient storage and transmission of uncompressed images. Some of these compression techniques for static images are Graphic Information Files (GIF), Tagged Information Format Files (TIFF) and Joint Picture Experts Group (JPEG). A compression technique for video images is Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG), which comprises a series of compression schemes that are a modified version of JPEG. MPEG is a flat compression schemexe2x80x94each frame of the video is compressed like an individual picture.
MPEG, like other video compression schemes, still generates compressed files that require a large amount of bandwidth for delivery over a network. A short video segment may take several minutes to download. This is the reason why moderately sized videos are not readily available over the Internet.
Therefore there exists a need for a compression scheme that provides great improvement over present methods, thereby improving the effectiveness of video image reception over the Internet.
The present invention provides a system and method for compressing a video image. The system includes an object database and a compression processor coupled to the object database for receiving video image information from a video source. The compression processor includes an image analyzer for determining status of one or more pixels of the video image over time, a shape determiner for determining a shape that defines a group of pixels that are determined to have the same status over a period of time, an object retriever for retrieving an object from the object database that corresponds to the determined shape from a stored set of objects, and a saving component for saving information relating to the selected object and dimensional information of the determined shape.
In accordance with further aspects of the invention, the system further includes a transmission component for transmitting the saved information to one or more receiving systems across a network.
In accordance with other aspects of the invention, the compression processor further includes an object store message generator for generating an object store message, if no object corresponds to the determined shape, and wherein the transmission component transmits the generated object store message to the one or more receiving systems across a network.
In accordance with still further aspects of the invention, the determined shape and objects in the stored set of objects are two or three-dimensional.
In accordance with yet other aspects of the invention, a system for decompressing a video image compressed in accordance with the compression scheme of the present invention is provided. The decompressing system includes an object database, a display processor, a display coupled to the display processor, and a decompression processor coupled to the object database and the display processor. The decompression processor includes a retrieving component for retrieving an object stored in the object database that corresponds to an identifier included in the compressed video image, a scaling component for scaling the retrieved object according to scaling information included in the compressed video image, and an instructing component for instructing a display processor according to the scaled object.
As will be readily appreciated from the foregoing summary, the invention provides a new and improved video image compression scheme for efficient video image transmission.